Wall-E and Me − 15 July, 2008
The movie Wall-E had a profound effect on me, possibly far more profound than the folks at Pixar intended. Because of the stress of my personal life – my carpal tunnel syndrome, my worries about being able to get work done in a cube farm, and my “dream job” which turned out to be a sometimes-nightmare – I have been unusually emotional. In such a state, I am extraordinarily sensitive to other people’s pain and negative things in general.
This post has spoilers, so read no further if you want to be surprised when you see the movie. This post is also shamelessly sentimental. If that kind of thing bothers you, you should probably move along unless you enjoy being made sick.
According to IMDB, Wall-E is an animation, a comedy, a romance, sci-fi, and suitable for the family. I doubt that anyone, except for a precious few, would consider Wall-E to be a tragedy. Nevertheless, although I enjoyed the animation, the comedic aspects, the romance, and the sci-fi aspects of the movie, ultimately it left me feeling depressed. If you saw the movie, then you know that what is left of the human race 700 years hence returns to an Earth that appears to be utterly unprepared for it. Worse, what is left of the human race is utterly unprepared to live on Earth.
To me, that is tragedy. Yes, I know, the romance is very sweet. But they are machines. What is the future of two machines in love? Can they make a family? Will they always stay in love? Where is it headed? Nowhere really. Of course, we are probably not meant to think that far ahead about love between two robots.
I read some of the bulletin board messages on IMDB after watching the movie. It’s always a bit disheartening, because IMDB bulletin boards almost always degenerate into mudslinging; people trash each other, forgetting that they’re supposed to be talking about a movie. But from what I read, I gathered that some people (probably the minority) were struck by the environmental message(s) they perceived. Others pooh-poohed the notion and insisted that the human race coming down from a spaceship is just a backdrop for the love story.
Call me too serious, but I took the love story to be the distraction from the tragedy that was the destroyed Earth, and the heart wrenchingly naïve optimism of our descendents as they struggle to return to Earth, exiting their spacecraft in wonderment. The love story helps make that bitter pill go down just a little easier.
What really hit home was the song by Peter Gabriel that played over the credits. I was astonished at the power of that song. I had heard that some critics felt that the movie deserved an Oscar nomination. I personally think that the song deserves the Oscar. It is called “Down to Earth”.
If you are still reading, you must either think I am nuts, or you’re curious, or perhaps something resonates with your experience. If you simply think I’m nuts, feel free to read if you wish to be enlightened. Otherwise, please move along.
I may be nuts, but more to the point, I’ve been in a very fragile state emotionally for six weeks. When I got home after the movie, I immediately looked on YouTube for the Peter Gabriel song. I fired it up, leaned back in my chair, and listened. Before I knew it my face was streaming with tears. The tears kept coming and coming; the lyrics were painful to hear with the image of the human race coming back to a decimated Earth still fresh. I listened the second time, and had much the same result. Tears, tears, and more tears. Finally, I listened to the song a third time and I did not cry. At that point I turned off the computer and went to sleep.
Since then I have listened to the song may be 30 or 40 or 50 times. There have been times when hearing the song has made me feel joyful. That was when I was already in a pretty good mood. There have been times when hearing the song simply gave me some enjoyment. But there have been a surprising number of times when the song has caused me to cry. Sometimes I cry just a little. Today I was inconsolable.
What it boils down to is that parts of the song speak to my own situation, and parts speak to the tragedy I found in the movie. I’m not sure whether it is a good idea for me to listen to a song that can make me cry when I’m feeling low. On the other hand, it gives me an excuse for a very cleansing release that only a very good cry can provide. I don’t know how many of you men are familiar with that experience, but my bet is that most of you women have had it. When you need to cry, you should cry. You will feel better afterwards.
The lyrics that really speak to my situation are these:
Did you feel you’d been tricked
By the future you picked?
Well, come on down
It’s hard to explain why these lyrics mean so much to me, but they do. I did pick my future. I chose this job. I chose to do all the things that led me to this place – this carpal tunnel nightmare.
Lyrics that also speak to me, because they make me feel like someone is there, someone cares, are:
You’ve got a lot on your chest
Well, you can come as my guest
So come on down
Come on down
Lyrics that speak to me because they describe the beauty that Earth still is are these (they are from the chorus):
We’re coming down to the ground
There’s no better place to go
We’ve got snow up on the mountains
We’ve got rivers down below
We’re coming down to the ground
We hear the birds sing in the trees
And the land will be looked after
We send the seeds out in the breeze
There are other lyrics that speak to me of that naïve optimism of our descendents. The trashed Earth of the movie is “the legacy we leave our children”, as people are so fond of saying.
The lyric “There’s no better place to go” seems to have more than one meaning. It can mean it’s the best place of all. It can also mean there is no other place that we can go. If the lyrics referred to the earth as it is today, they would be so very accurate. But if they referred to our descendents’ idea of what the earth was going to be, they would be so very sad.
Well, if I haven’t driven you away with this outrageous display of sentimentality, thanks for sticking it out. I saw this movie two weekends ago. I have been meaning to write this for a while. I’m kind of glad I waited, because I feel now like I understand it a bit better.
You can find the full lyrics here.
Comments:
intrepideddie (July 15, 2008. 02:48am)
For some interesting commentary on the movie, check out the following two articles at io9: http://io9.com/5024712/wall+e-right-wing-hero and http://io9.com/5020391/humanity-cannot-be-saved-in-wall+e
peahayes (July 15, 2008. 03:15am)
I like that second article quite a bit. I had a feeling that there could be some deeper meaning to the robot love story and all of the other robot plot elements. I'm just glad that there are some people out there really thinking about that movie. I would hope that a movie into which people poured so much effort, talent, and money would be more than superficial entertainment.
peahayes (July 15, 2008. 03:19am)
I wonder whether, if I hadn't been in such an emotional state when I saw the movie, I would have focused less on the supposed tragedy that befell the returning humans and more on the uplift of the robots' story.
bmccosar (July 15, 2008. 10:48pm)
I feel something similar with the movie "Blade Runner." The death of each of the replicants reflects something I've felt when confronted with mortality -- Leon, surprise; Zora, terror; Pris, rage; Roy, resignation. I'm not sure Roy or I would think that the point of existence (or the point of a relationship) was reproduction [paragraph 4 above]. On the other hand, Lorien (from Babylon 5) would remind us that "only those whose lives are short can imagine that love lasts forever." And you haven't driven me away with an outrageous display of sentimentality -- this is one of the best articles I've read. You should never be afraid to write about things that are genuine and heartfelt.
peahayes (July 15, 2008. 11:52pm)
thank you! I definitely don't think the point of either existence or a relationship is reproduction. I've never wanted to have kids! I guess I put that in there because it's something that most people who stay together end up doing (and plenty who don't stay together too).